Q152635

Picture of the Day · NASA

Pathfinder on Mars

2026-07-04

On July 4th, 1997, using its own array of fireworks, a parachute, and a cocoon of airbags, the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft bounced like a giant beach ball at least 15 times before it came to rest on the surface of Mars at 10:07 AM Pacific Daylight Time. After its then novel airbag-assisted landing sequence was completed, Pathfinder transmitted this color mosaic to mission operators on Earth. In the scene from another world, the Mars Sojourner robot rover is visible in the foreground, crouched on top of the unfolded Pathfinder. About the size of a large house cat, the six-wheeled, solar-powered Sojourner became the first successful Martian rover. Surrounding Pathfinder are deflated airbags and the rock-strewn terrain of the Ares Vallis floodplain. In the distance Martian hills appear against a dusty brownish sky. The Pathfinder lander was subsequently renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station.

via NASA APOD

Key facts

Discovered by

Max Wolf

Discovery date

13 October 1895

Pronunciation

/ ˈ f eɪ m ə /

Alternative designations

1895 CD

Minor planet category

Main belt

Observation arc

109.59 yr (40029 d)

Aphelion

3.6216 AU (541.78 Gm )

Perihelion

2.71757 AU (406.543 Gm)

Semi major axis

3.1696 AU (474.17 Gm)

Orbital period sidereal

5.64 yr (2061.1 d )

Mean anomaly

148.91 °

Mean motion

0° 10 28.776 / day

Inclination

9.0794°

Longitude of ascending node

297.250°

Argument of perihelion

108.505°

Dimensions

40.81 ± 2.1 km

Synodic rotation period

202.1 h (8.42 d ) , 12.19 h

Geometric albedo

0.1681 ± 0.019

via Wikipedia infobox